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The miser, starving his brother's body, starves also his own soul, and at death shall creep out of his great estate of injustice, poor and naked and miserable
Theodore Parker
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Being greedy harms not just others, but oneself as well.

This quote by Theodore Parker reflects on the destructive nature of greed and selfishness. It suggests that a miser, by withholding resources and compassion from others, ultimately impoverishes his own spirit and well-being. In the end, their material wealth cannot compensate for the moral and emotional emptiness they create through their actions.

Themes

GreedSelfishnessInjusticeWealthMiser

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about charity and compassion during a community meeting.

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A democracy,- that is a government of all the people, by all the people, for all the people; of course, a government of the principles of eternal justice, the unchanging law of God; for shortness' sake I will call it the idea of Freedom.
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Want and wealth equally harden the human heart, as frost and fire are both alien to the human flesh. Famine and gluttony alike drive away nature from the heart of man.
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The books which help you most are those which make you think the most. The hardest way of learning is by easy reading; every man that tries it finds it so. But a great book that comes from a great thinker, β€” it is a ship of thought, deep freighted with truth, with beauty too.
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No man is so great as mankind.
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Outward judgment often fails, inward judgment never.
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You may not, cannot, appropriate beauty. It is the wealth of the eye, and a cat may gaze upon a king.
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